Oxford Finds Simpson Quite Curious

`America Has Lost All Integrity In Its Media'

With Its History Of Inviting Famous And/or Controversial People, The Oxford Union Heard O.j. Simpson, Who Took The Opportunity To Bash The U.s. Press.

May 15, 1996|By Ray Moseley, Tribune Staff Writer.

OXFORD, England — O. J. Simpson, University of Southern California class of 1969, arrived via a murder trial at the ancient halls of learning of Oxford University on Tuesday night.

The Oxford Union, the university's world-renowned debating society, has a long tradition of inviting distinguished and often controversial speakers. But never in its history had it invited a speaker purely on the basis of his notoriety as a former murder defendant.

Wearing the traditional black suit, gray vest and gray-and-white tie of a Union speaker, Simpson gave the students a 15-minute lecture that ranged from an attack on the American news media to contemplations on the Bible and the Koran.

Then he answered questions for 45 minutes, appearing contrite when repeatedly asked about his record of beating his late wife, Nicole, and accusing one student of racism for suggesting he was acquitted because he had played "the race card from the bottom of the deck." At one point, he appeared to equate wife beating with "women slapping men."

Simpson's most troublesome adversary was one of his neighbors. Fiona Maazel, 21, an Oxford student who said she lives a two-minute walk from Simpson's home in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles, rose in the middle of his address when he was cracking jokes about the American media.

"This isn't funny," she told him. "You are being sued for wrongful death. And your history of assault and abuse makes you an insult to the gender and to the entire Oxford community at large. Don't come here for sympathy."

At that point, she said, she was invited to leave and did so. Simpson, she said, just stared at her.

"They were cheering for him, laughing at his jokes," she said afterward to American reporters, who at Simpson's insistence, were barred from the hall. "It was sick stuff. It was nauseating."

Jeffrey Gettleman, 24, of Evanston, also an Oxford student, said reaction to Simpson was mixed. He said some listened politely, but the exchanges after the speech were "tense at times," with female students accusing him of having failed to apologize for beating his wife.

Several students admitted they had not followed the Simpson case and knew little about him. One woman said she was under the impression he was a boxer.

Before the speech, Maazel had been part of a group of mostly American students at Oxford who demonstrated in the street outside with banners such as one reading "O. J. Simpson Beat His Wife." They expressed outrage that the Oxford Union had invited him. Some British newspapers have expressed similar outrage.

Simpson, who is on a five-day visit to Britain that has been widely interpreted as an attempt to refurbish his image, played golf outside London on Sunday, appeared on a 12-minute British television interview program Monday night and then came here for the major event of his trip.

All this was arranged by British celebrity publicity agent Max Clifford, whose clients have included Spanish bit actress Antonia de Sanchez after her widely publicized affair with a British Cabinet minister, and actor Hugh Grant after his arrest for soliciting a prostitute in Los Angeles.

Clifford denied reports that Simpson was looking for a job in Britain, insisting he is just visiting friends. It was not clear why someone just visiting friends would hire a high-priced publicity agent to get him on TV and before the Oxford Union.

Simpson's remarks were relayed to American reporters by students and British journalists who were allowed into the hall. They said he appeared confident throughout the hourlong session.

Simpson told the students his ordeal at the hands of prosecutors and the U.S. media had "put a bit of passion back into my life." He described the Los Angeles jail where he had been held as "the CPCP -- the Colored People's County Prison. Most people in jail are of color."

He went on to say that "America has lost all integrity in its media."

After Maazel's interruption, he said, "I'm willing to have dialogue with any women's group. But they don't want dialogue. They just want to spew venom."

He said he had been comforted in jail by reading the Book of Job and made a passing reference to "getting into the Koran." "That will be a headline in America," he said.

Simpson said he was "virtually broke . . . my handicap is money." He said he had done a video about his trial because he needed money. Later, he said he would love to lecture at Oxford.

When one student accused him of "playing the race card from the bottom of the deck," he retorted, "If you think I was let off because I am black, you're a racist. It's a slap in the face to say black jurors let me off to get even for the brothers and the sisters. That's b.s."

At one point, when discussing charges of wife beating, he said cryptically: "I am not a jealous man. But monogamy is not my strong suit."

One student asked, "How can you stand up here so unashamedly after beating your wife?"